6/12 Season Three, Episode 6: Sour Grapes-Scarecrow and Mrs King

Back to Lee in the men’s only cellar..(boo!) Guess it’s a GOLF cellar (you know, gentleman only, ladies forbidden!)
Robison brags to Lee about how good their wine collection is. whooo Margaux was a wine at the heart of an episode of Columbo!(Molly Hagan, who plays Penny in this ep was in 2 Columbo episodes! I think I need to do a Columbo blog eventually!)Lee: let me ask you something..Lee begins to work on Robison to get info- only at this moment we see they are not alone. A man is moving around upstairs..
Uh oh.. I think we just saw the red balaclava guy… will he recognise Lee and blow his cover??… even in New York I’ve heard rumours of a secret society, a brotherhood if you will, of wine lovers. They take their name from the phylloxera.Robison: a wine society?Lee: yeah.Robison is silent a beat then responds: No. Nope I’m afraid I can’t be much help.
whooooo is he telling the truth?Robison offers Lee a wine to taste..
Lee tries again.. lol the questioning all sounds very clunky and obvious to me.. but then again, we only have 45 minutes to tell the story Lee: I was in Paris last week, and I ahh ran into a member… (Lee bends down to pick up something on the floor – it’s a buggy badge! whooooo.. what luck!! Not a very secret society after all whahahaa. I guess after they each sipped their super concentrated Chateau Monet they went slightly bonkers and one of the dropped their buggy badge out in the open there and didn’t care )…of yours. Congressman McNeil.Robison doesn’t bat an eyelid: Yes of course.Lee: Yeah, we bumped into each other in a little wine shop in Montmartre. We were both looking for a 45 Chateau Monet.Jean Pierre, the red balaclava guy suddenly joins them and answers Lee: Not an easy wine to find.Robison: Jean Pierre, I’d like you to meet Gregory Peterson.
[I notice the Camera operator on this episode is Lowell Peterson – Lee and Amanda’s cover surname might be a shout out?!]They shake hands..Jean Pierre: Darrell… (According to the script ‘Darrell’ is Robison’s first name) … tells me about the collection you have for sale. It would make a wonderful addition to the cellar.Hmm.. if he recognises Lee he isn’t letting on..Robison: Jean Pierre is a master sommelier. One of the three in the states (huh?! ) he recommends all our big European purchases.Jean Pierre: Including every bottle of Chateau Monet I can lay my hands on. So if you have any luck…Lee: I’ll keep you in mind.
[rofl he sure will! good pun that one!]
Given they (the agency) never found either case of Chateau Monet at McNeil’s they must wonder if a case has gone to Escoffier.. someone was filming McNeil put two cases in his car.. lol who that was yet we don’t know..
Jean Pierre leaves Robison and Lee to their wine tasting and the scene ends there.. Love how Jean Pierre is wearing sneakers!Ah we cut to Amanda’s cooking demonstration with Cecilia Kemper. LOL hope they aren’t waiting on that microwave it’s not plugged in
Amanda washes her hands.Cecilia: you’re a good sport. Thanks very much for your help.Amanda: Ah you’re very welcome. Cecilia.
[Is it just me or does the way Amanda says this sound like she’s not really welcome?!]
Amanda leaves the cooking demonstration as Cecilia tells the audience: Now if you’ll all step forward, you can see how I dressed the bird.Amanda in the foyer finds no one around.. Love her sneaky looks here..too cute!
she makes her way up to that Deuxième Floor! (up one flight of stairs?? two flights? whatever!). How was Lee planning on getting up there when he’s down in the manly cellar!
We cut to a room upstairs and see Amanda casually open a door and say: Hello??Super casual! I love it..
In Burn Notice, Michael Westen famously suggested if you want to sneak in somewhere and look innocent if found, walk around eating a yoghurt (Love Burn Notice!!) -I can see Amanda doing stuff like that as her professional sneaking skills expand!

So finding noone around, Amanda makes her way over to the huge desk in the office and opens the top drawer.Ah! I can finally read that name plate there.. it says ‘Master Sommelier’ ahh it’s Jean Pierre’s desk.. I was never sure if it was Robison’s or what..Anyway.. Amanda reads a piece of paper which flashes by just enough for us to see it’s a long list..
Hmm not what she’s after..
She hunts some more – jackpot!
Amanda is aghast as she finds a much shorter list! We are treated to a close up on this list.. whooo and what fun!!
I bet you will have straight away recognised one or two of those names! And I don’t mean McNeil, Hallman and Stargate!
lol.. we See ‘Ronald G. Smith every week in the end credits quite prominently..
and Paul Waigner is also very well known.. tee hee..
Maybe that’s why Amanda looked so aghast
So want to try and pick the crew out of this list on your own? Go on see how you go! 😉
Just look away while I list who’s who here!Robert Gilman- ?? not sure-anyone? (Robert Gilmer is Supervising producer- close enough? not sure!)
Rebecca Tays- ?? anyone?
Paul Waigner- Producer of 24 smk episodes (seasons 2-4)Betty Reardon- ?? anyone??
Ronald G. Smith- unit production manager of this ep (and according to IMDB occasional co-producer and second unit director).
Elpe Villard- (there is an Elpe Villard listed on Imdb as crew but not for smk.. hmm.. maybe she was a little work experience kiddie?! )John Slosser-first assistant director of 4 episodes in season 3
Craig Beaudine- first assistant director of Sour Grapes (cheeky cameo!)

Jim Wirosko- (there’s a James Wirosko listed on IMDB as crew, but no mention of smk..)??

Back to the episode.. Huge thanks to Lauren for transcribing this next scene!!!
As Amanda snoops at the list.. a floorboard creaks! eek!It’s Jean Pierre..! eek! busted..

LOL he doesn’t seem terribly put out at finding Amanda there..Jean Pierre: may I help you madam?Amanda: Ah no I came up here ( she picks up the telephone receiver)…to use the err telephone.Jean Pierregives her an understanding smile: by all means.Cue an Amanda ramble!Amanda: well I can’t use it because I don’t remember the number.. haaa..(Jean Pierre now watches with a blank expression)…but my husband probably does he’s downstairs… [husband.. ohhh how I love the sounds of that!] (Amanda puts down the receiver) … he’s very good with numbers I should probably go get the number from him… (without pausing for breath, Amanda continues her ramble, gets out of the chair and heads for the exit!) …and then I’ll just use another phone and I won’t bother you in your office I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to intrude.
(at this Amanda closes the door behind her)Love Jean Pierre’s reaction to her ramble! sacré bleu!
He heads over to the desk to check out what she was reading.. Amanda is totally busted!
Still she managed to get out of there though so that’s good!Okay well I best leave it here for the moment.. while Amanda goes down to find her ‘husband’ squeeeeeeee!
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the ep so far!! byeeeee!!

A friend of mine used to be in the army, and he said that anytime they finished with a task and didn’t have another to do immediately, their superiors would assign them something pointless to do just to keep them busy, like digging a ditch for absolutely no reason (it’s against the rules for the soldiers to be idle even if there’s nothing in particular for them to do). To avoid the totally pointless chores, if they had a little time between their usual tasks, he and a couple of others took to carrying around clipboards and “inspecting” the work others were doing. If you carry around a clipboard and look purposeful, people assume that you’re busy doing something important and won’t bother you.

He also says that on 30 Rock, someone said that if you wear a pilot’s uniform and walk fast, no one stops you, and they’ll let you do just about anything. The character claims to have snuck into the White House and spent the night using that system.

lol.. some great sneaking stories.. sounds like we could start a really fun spy tips thread on Nedlindger’s and put together all the fun ideas we hear not just on smk but others shows and from our crazy friends (and relatives!)
Feel free to start one or if I get a chance I will – I know I am just starting a watch through of burn notice so think I’ll have tons of spy tips!

Love the GOLF comment, Iwsod. This Robison guy seems to be either a bit clueless or playing things very close to the vest. Not sure yet how he fits into any of this. Just wondering about these whole undercover situations. In order for one to really work, don’t you need to establish yourself a bit first. But for some reason you come go in right away and ask a bunch of questions that are only going to arouse suspicions. You immediately ask about a society in which three members were recently killed and oh, by the way, you just happened to have met one in particular prior to your joining the Escoffier.

This is going to be a nit picky comment. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, but why is it that Cecilia gets an apron and Amanda doesn’t. I tend to get messy in the kitchen, Amanda is still clean as a whistle. Also, on the member list, Stargate, Hallman, and McNeil don’t have first names, only titles. Dr., General, and Congressman while everyone else is listed with a first name. Okay, enough with the pickiness. Maybe I need more coffee.

I like Amanda’s initiative. She knows what Lee needs and she has probably been keeping an eye on that staircase and hasn’t seen Lee at all. She is really starting to think on her feet well and has learned how to put those rambling skills to good use. Interesting how Lee has been unsuccessful in his attempt to get some information, while Amanda has found just what they were looking for.

yep the names on the list just don’t look right! Even if you didn’t recognise all the names, I think they are on screen long enough to notice a couple of the big ones, and that all the other names don’t have the detail of the three men who died..kinda lame but hey.. this is one of the things I enjoy about smk tee hee! 🙂

Not nitpicky! lol.. I think it’s just questioning and that’s good! 😉

I see you’ve answered your apron thought- thanks for sharing with us what you figured out – I hadn’t noticed Amanda was offered an apron!

Indeed good call – Amanda sees something that needs to be done.. and she does it! That list is the whole reason they are there in the first place! lol.. Lee does find a clue or two – we’ll hear about this in the next post 🙂

Regarding the idea of establishing a cover before you enter and start asking questions -this one I can answer!
My understanding is that Plato has given them instructions on how to get in easily.. they have a case of Bordeaux to sell, and it seems Plato has ‘sponsored’ them – Robison says ‘Your senior sponsor asked that you be shown our private cellar’ – I figured this was Plato – and with a sponsor and wine to sell that they want you can probably ask whatever you want 😉
Also in post 4 Plato said: “a well-heeled couple from New York with a proper introduction selling a priceless Bordeaux could undoubtedly get in the door of Escoffier. And once inside, I’m sure you could think of some way to find the membership list for the Brotherhood.”
I know it’s easy to just blot out whatever Plato says because he is ick – but I managed to get past that for just a moment so I could hear about Plato’s recommendation for setting up the cover! 🙂 I’d say Plato was the ‘proper introduction’ that he was referring to. I just thank heavens we didn’t have to see Plato actually show up and introduce Gregory and Lilly lol!!!

So hope that helps! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend in the USA!! byeee

I guess I’m good with the fact that they had a good cover in how they established who they were and were going to be acceptable to the Escoffier. And yes, Plato helped them get their foot in the door. It’s just the timing of all the questions. I just think it would have led to some suspicions. I know they had limited time in which to get the info and needed to move quickly. And the best way to do that would be to ask questions.

I guess I was thinking of my dad. He used to watch “Charlie’s Angels”. You can guess why. His biggest pet peeve would be how they were supposedly undercover on a case and would just go in and start asking all these obvious questions that would attract attention. I was in cranky pants mode this morning. And I am good with the little bit that we got of Plato. I could not deal with it if he had to escort Lee and Amanda.

I totally second that gripe Valerie! so call me ms grumpy too! 😉
This is what my possibly cryptic comment about how -I guess they only have 45 minutes to tell the story – was all about! It was like Lee got in the door and said hello! do you know about the phylloxera brotherhood?! tee hee..

I think I was spoilt by The Closer- because the questioning and interviewing was so top notch! I happened to watch 2 minutes of castle the other day (apologies to castle fans) and Beckett asks the suspect they are questioning ‘are you involved in organised crime?!’ – roflmbo!!!! err yeah I am.. funny you should ask 😉 and of course the suspect just looked at her like she was stoooopid! It really was cringe worthy writing.. and I agree Lee is right up there in this scene – I confess overall Lee’s questioning of suspects has me lol’ing for all the wrong reasons sometimes ( I remember this came up in Car wars when Lee was telling Mario everything he knew about the case so that Mario would then oblige and tell what he knows.. tee hee!)

Okay oopsie.. tangent! I’d be happy to discuss this more – maybe we should start a thread on Neds about smk questioning/interrogation tactics.. or heck.. we should get a meme series started on how not to interview a suspect! whahhahaaa.. I’m being naughty suppose to be working – so going to shut this down so I’m not tempted – gah!!! byee byee!!

Iwsod, your comment about interrogation techniques makes me flashback to Mongoose and Lee and Amanda’s comedy of errors with the whole good cop/bad cop routine. Here again Amanda was able to get the info when Lee wasn’t. You mentioned Columbo earlier, now that was technique!

Lee is well.. not Columbo! tee hee.. I think Amanda could take a leaf out of Columbo’s book at times.. but maybe it is premature of me to say – I’ll be keep an eye out for this!

Lee is Lee so who needs technique? ohhh I know!!! I’m so difficult to please aren’t I?! tee hee.. he is suppose to be a top agent though, so his less than reasonably competent interrogations at times are funny at times for the wrong reasons – but at other times.. intentionally funny- so it works!

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